Monitoring Long-Term Group Performance

In this section, users can review the results of a five-year SAVIX panel study that describes the long-term performance of independent savings groups.

The rapid growth in the outreach of savings groups has attracted increasing levels of interest in their long-term performance. Through a standardised management information system and the SAVIX, Facilitating Agencies may monitor, analyse and communicate the results of their projects with greater consistency and transparency.

And through increasingly rigorous monitoring and evaluation systems, Facilitating Agencies are making greater efforts to better understand the performance, dynamics and survival rate of independent groups, beyond the training period.

Nevertheless, it remains a serious challenge for Facilitating Agencies and their local partners to monitor the long-term performance of savings groups after the end of implementation in a given area and more so beyond the lifespan of a project.

Furthermore, the few studies on the long-term performance of savings groups are very narrow in scope – limited to end-of-project evaluations and specific projects and institutions.

The SAVIX – with support from VSL Associates, CARE, Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam America – launched a five-year panel study in 2009 to describe the performance of a random sample of 331 savings groups mobilised and trained by 33 projects in 6 countries.

In March of each year, standardised data iscollected from all active groups in the sample. This data is consolidated by the SAVIX and, using the tabs on the left, users can review the overall performance of the sample, track group survival rates over time and analyse annual trends in performance using the filters of their choice.